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FT dogs do you hunt with them or not?

Im trying to wrap my head around this, How many of you own a retriever and strictly run field trials and not hunt those same dogs? I understand lining and wanting the dog to use his eyes and not the nose, just wonder how many people sucessfully run their dogs in field trials and hunt those same dogs are out there.

Absolutely!!! It's what retrievers do best. I recall reading an article about a (maybe) 3x National champion - could have been Lottie - who always went hunting and was famous for breaking on shot birds. BTW - I firmly believes dogs no the difference between going to the line and sitting in a duck blind.

Hunted mine this week. In fact during sept and oct my training schedule is hunt monday or tues, train wed run blinds thursday FT on the weekend. They love to hunt and as stated I believe they know the difference.

'I make my practices real hard because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game.' - Bear Bryant / Alabama

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I hunted my Lab before I even got into Hunt Tests and Trialing. He went on to become a Master Hunter and QAA. Not too shabby for a lab that loved to upland hunt on Grouse and Woodcock in Northern Michigan. For me a day afield with my boys was the best. Bringing up a new pup that I will train to do the same. Good luck which ever route you take. It's all good.
Kent

Same as others. I hunt my young female on both upland birds and waterfowl. Got her QAA last year and will run AA this year. She seems to know the difference and LOVES to hunt. Also hunting her seems to keep her attitude really good for the heavy training that comes during the trial season. Also trialing her has given me the best gun dog I have owned and hunting is the primary reason I own a retriever.

I have a 2 year old female that is QAA. This was her first "big" fall where she was constantly with me in the fields (waterfowl) and she guided pheasant hunters in SoDak for 10 days. Up until this year however she spent her time training so that her foundation was solid. The pheasant hunting loosened her up a bit since when guiding things can get pretty chaotic, but thanks to that foundation we're now back in training and getting her back into the "flow" of training has been pretty seamless.

"If you have watched a pup learning the game, I do not have to tell you what it is like, and if you have not, I probably can't."- Datus Proper